DU has a wealth of creative students, and they all need an outlet for their work. For this reason, every year, DU publishes “Foothills Visual and Textual Journal,” a magazine created by students, for students.

“Foothills” publishes collections of poetry, prose, visual art and music. The process starts Fall Quarter each year with a team of editors who map out the year ahead. They gather a staff to help edit, budget, create the design of the book and spread the word about submission guidelines.

Winter Quarter holds the submission deadline and allows for the staff to begin reviewing and compiling students’ art. Later in Spring Quarter, the journal is published and editors and student submitters join for a release party of the newest edition. The party is held in May in Driscoll Underground.

The Design Editor, senior Katherine Gibson, has been on the “Foothills” staff since her freshman year.

“The overall experience has been a good one for me, but it has involved a lot of learning. Every year, the process has been a little bit more expedited and everything has run a little bit smoother,” she said.

The 2016 edition theme was “Idea Atlas,” and it featured a design of maps and compasses. The upcoming 2017 edition was named “Crossing Paths” and includes mazes as a motif around students’ work. The themes are meant to make each journal unique, as well as to provide inspiration for people who wish to submit but have come to a standstill while thinking of something creative.

The journal is a great way to get material published, whether it comes from private stashes of creative freedom or as a product of classroom work.

Again, submissions are reviewed and chosen by the “Foothills” staff based on a one-four ranking of originality and quality, but the more work they can publish, the better. Their goal is to create a magazine representative of the inventive DU undergraduate community.

“I’ve met so many fantastic, creative people through “Foothills” and I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of seeing amazing pieces published each year. I’m incredibly glad I joined the staff,” said Gibson.

“Foothills Visual and Textual Journal” is currently accepting submissions for the 2017 issue. Poetry should be 32 lines or less, prose should be 1500 words or less, visual art should be 360 DPI and music should be five minutes or less. Every submission is also automatically entered into a creative contest for prizes worth up to $100. Send work or seek more information at du.foothillsmagazine@gmail.com as soon as possible to be published.